Who was Barzillai? It is a name you might expect coming out of a Tarzan movie? It is a Hebrew name meaning steel or iron. Barzillai was the iron man of Gilead located in southern Israel. He was one of three men who helped King David flee his son Absalom who was trying to take the throne by force! David and his men were in the wilderness and needed provisions to survive! Barzillai was 80 years old when he rendered assistance to King David! He did so at great risks for if Absalom had won he would have executed Barzillai! D.L. Moody once said our Faith can only be exercised in the darkness! If you are a Christian waiting around for a Utopia to come so you can safely proclaim Jesus name it will never happen! Remember in scripture that after the thousand year rein with Christ Satan will be loosed for a season on the earth! Why? Maybe the Saints got a little to fat and lazy and their Faith went to sleep? Barzillai was a man of invincible charm! He had a son named Chimham. Barzillai was a highland chief who was wealthy, loyal, courteous, passionate and respected the King! He used his wealth to help others not to fill his own pockets! King David rewarded Barzillai by inviting him to live with him in the Palace at Jerusalem! He declined telling David he was an old man and he wanted to live his life where he was born and to be buried beside his father and mother. He was even loyal to his deceased parents! Where can you find such loyalty in the earth? However he did refer the invitation to others including his son. When it comes to doing good we must do all we can while we can as you can for God! King David on his death bed told his son Solomon the new King to be good to the descendants of Brazillai! Remember God has invited you to His Palace! Jesus said he has gone to prepare a place for you! He will take you home to be with Him forever! If you have already accepted His invitation then refer the invite to others! Thankyou. Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia
Tag: invitation
Sermon On The Mount Series New Life Church
Matthew Chapter 5; The sermon on the mount is the most taught and least followed of all Jesus teachings! Jesus brings a new imagination ( image ) and a new people out of this sermon. Israel has a history of getting things wrong! They moved from holiness, sin, rebellion, repentance and back to holiness. The difficulty today is the church is just like Israel. Often we cannot tell the difference between the church and the world. Leviticus 18:1-4; God found us in Egypt! God did not want the Jews to be like Egypt or like Canaan. There are traps both in prosperity and bondage. Do not follow the practices of the world. The world is sinking sand. Build on the rock (Christ). The Jews wanted Samuel to give them a king. Why? Other nations had kings. We want to be like the world. God and samuel were greived. So they got Saul, David and a bunch of really bad kings out of forty. Ezekiel 20:6-8; It is possible not to lust, control your temper and live peaceably. Here is a summation of the sermon on the mount, “An invitation from Jesus to be like him and be set apart.” We are a covenant people serving a covenant God. As a mother feeds her baby through the umbilical cord so we are the branches attached to the vine. Moses could not follow the law! The sermon on the mount is not another set of rules. Jesus in you teaches you and enpowers you. John 15:5-6; Apart from me you can do nothing. Bare much fruit! Philippians 2:12; Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. God works in you! No individualism here but community. The disciples left the crowd but after Jesus changed their lives they went back to minister to the crowds! We are in covenant with God and the community. If we try by ourselves we will fail. Live with Jesus and others. No isolation from community in the covenant. The table of covenant is community. Together we servs the community. We serve each other and we serve Christ as He serves us! The Trinity of the covenant is serving community, each other and Christ! Source; Sermon notes, Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sermon On The Mount Series, 28 April 2013. Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com